New Mexico’s Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) has announced the completion of a landmark broadband infrastructure expansion project that delivered affordable next-gen broadband access to dozens of long-neglected homes in a remote subdivision in rural Chaves County.

According to the OBAE announcement, the successful completion of the Chaves County project is OBAE’s first grant project to reach 100 percent completion, and the first Connect New Mexico Pilot Program project funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Capital Projects Fund to reach the final stage.

“This project’s completion delivers on the state’s promise to connect New Mexico families in the most remote areas of the state,” said Andy Exell, OBAE’s ARPA Program Coordinator.

“For these dozens of homeowners to finally get high-speed internet is a life changer.”

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Like so many rural U.S. communities, residents of Chaves County were often deemed unprofitable to serve by entrenched private phone providers.

That changed in  2023 when OBAE awarded Artesia, New Mexico based Penasco Valley Telephone Cooperative Inc. (PVT) an ARPA grant of $487,000. Officials say construction included roughly 11 miles of pole-attached aerial fiber to the rural residences. With matching PVT funds, the broadband project’s total budget was $649,000.

The U.S. Treasury awarded New Mexico $117 million in grants through ARPA to expand and deploy broadband to unserved and underserved neighborhoods. 

The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) has awarded $1.4 million in grants to 15 counties, tribal communities, cooperatives, and municipalities for planning, engineering and grant writing to expand broadband access in long-underserved communities.

The funding not only allows these communities to begin analyzing their local connectivity needs in more detail, it potentially opens the door to helping them apply for more than $675 million in BEAD grants the state of New Mexico is poised to receive courtesy of 2021 infrastructure legislation.

The New Mexico Grant Writing, Engineering and Planning Program (GWEP) awards must be used for grant writing, engineering and planning for broadband expansion projects and the development of infrastructure projects. Traditional private ISPs were not eligible.

The first round of awards were announced in June, with a second batch announced in July.

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Round one awardees included $100,000 grants to the Village of Pecos, Valencia County, Pueblo of Isleta, Pueblo of San Ildefonso, Pueblo of Laguna, Pueblo of Jemez, and Otero County, and a $90,000 grant to Luna County.